The present invention relates in general to passive safety belt restraint systems for vehicles and more particularly to such a passive restraint system wherein the safety belt strap webbing is easily stowed by a pair of retractors mounted to a vehicle door located adjacent to the seat of the passenger being restrained.
Various types of three-point passive safety belt systems have been developed heretofore where portions of the safety belt are mounted to the vehicle door in an effort to utilize the normal opening movement of the vehicle door to assist in the movement of portions of the safety belt to a position out of the passenger's way to allow exit or entrance relative to the vehicle seat without hindrance from the restraint system. Exemplary of such references are prior U.S. Pats. Nos. 4,189,170; 4,245,856; and 4,357,035, each of which is assigned to the assignee of the present application. In these systems, a safety belt retractor was mounted inboard of the vehicle seat with the safety belt strap ends being either fixedly or releasably connected to the portions of the vehicle. Thus, as the vehicle door is opened or closed, the safety belt straps move relative to the passenger seated in the vehicle seat adjacent the door since the straps are normally anchored by a retractor inboard of the vehicle seat.
It would be more convenient to the passenger to have the inboard aspect of the restraint system stationary or releasably fixed relative to an inboard anchor and to have other portions of the system wound up or unwound relative retraction mechanism in such a way that the straps do not rub or move across the vehicle passenger. It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to disclose and provide a safety belt restraint system wherein the strap portions of the system which lie generally against the front of the passenger of the vehicle seat are so provided as to remain essentially stationary relative to the passenger when the vehicle door is opened or closed as part of a means for moving the restraint system by such door movement in a passive manner to place it out of the way of the passenger for exit when the door is opened and in a operative position restraining the passenger when the door is closed. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a restraint system wherein the safety belt straps can be entirely wound up in a neat and tidy arrangement adjacent to the vehicle door ready to be swung with the vehicle door out of the way when the passenger wishes to exit the vehicle and the system has been released from its inboard anchor.